This autumn, I set out on a mission to find the best yoga retreat in Kathmandu. After scouring the internet for the best places for yoga in Kathmandu, I eventually landed on Mandala Yoga Retreat in Kathmandu.
Set at the top of a hill above Kathmandu Valley, the yoga school runs retreats from 3 to 7 days – and it’s not just yoga that’s on the schedule, but also meditation, reiki, sound healing and ayurvedic massage.
After much deliberation, I enrolled on their four-day sound healing and yoga retreat to see if it truly could be the best yoga retreat in Kathmandu.
In my Mandala Yoga Retreat review, I’ll talk about everything I experienced and why you might want to consider visiting too.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you decide to click through and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you – thanks for your support.
Sponsored: My stay was discounted, but as always, all opinions are 100% mine.
How to Pick the Best Yoga Retreat in Kathmandu
There are lots of yoga retreats in Nepal. However, I didn’t want to pick a place at random.
Having already attended retreats in other countries in Asia, I already had a good idea of what I was looking for.
These are all important questions to ask before you decide on booking a yoga retreat in Kathmandu:
- Location: Is the retreat easily accessible by car from Kathmandu? Does it have beautiful views? I particularly liked that Mandala Yoga has views of the Himalayas in clear conditions.
- Yoga and meditation type: Does the retreat provide the style of yoga you prefer? Mandala Yoga focuses on an energising morning yoga practice with pranayama and an evening yoga nidra practice.
- Other treatments: Do you want to focus solely on yoga and meditation, or are you interested in sound healing, reiki, ayurvedic massage and other treatments?
- Comfort: Does the retreat offer private or shared rooms? Are they air-conditioned? Do they have an ensuite bathroom?
- Catering: Does the retreat include three meals? Is it a vegetarian retreat? Can it cater for dietary requirements?
- Cost: How does the cost compare to other retreats? Does it include pick-up or drop-off? Is the price inclusive of meals?
Budget yoga retreats in Nepal start at around $50 USD per night. However, they usually feature basic shared accommodation and facilities.
Retreats with more sophisticated venues and accommodation, like Mandala Yoga, cost $80+ per night. However, you can expect facilities like steam rooms and experienced sound healing practitioners.
Most retreats are vegetarian-only. This is because yogis practice ahimsa, a compassionate philosophy that avoids causing harm to animals.
Vegetarian meals are also supposed to make the body feel lighter and more grounded throughout your yoga practise.
Why Pick a Retreat Over a Yoga Lesson?
If you want to experience yoga in Kathmandu, you can either book a one-off yoga lesson or a longer retreat.
Yoga lessons are a great way to dip your toes into the practice and learn more about how yoga is practised in Nepal.
However, retreats let you dive deeper. There’s more time to practise the poses and meditation techniques.
Mandala Yoga
When you take a single lesson, you’ll likely walk onto the streets and become easily distracted by the smells, sounds and general commotion.
However, when you’re on a retreat, your free time can be spent ruminating and reflecting on your practice. It’s even a good time to address issues in your everyday life. If you’re always busy working and running around, this is a time when you can slow down and look at things more clearly.
On my retreat, I had plenty of time to journal, introspect and explore yoga concepts in more depth.
On top of that, at mealtimes, I had the opportunity to talk to other people who practise yoga, and what it means to them.
Where is Manadala Yoga Retreat?
Mandala Yoga Retreat is located in the Chandragiri Hills, 200 metres above sea level, so it doesn’t just have any old street view.
The view looks down over the Kathmandu valley, where you can spot Thamel and the Monkey Temple hill.
When the conditions are clear at sunrise, I also got to gaze over distant white-capped Himalayan mountains.
Views at sunrise
Despite being located at the top of a hill, it only takes 20 minutes to reach the retreat from Thamel.
You can also ride directly there using a motorbike, although the road is very steep, so you need to be a confident, capable rider.
Quick Introduction to Mandala Yoga
Mandala Yoga Retreat is owned by a Nepali couple, Mr. Biren and Yogi Kriti. Mr. Biren is an actor and experienced sound healer, while Yogi Kriti is an experienced yoga teacher.
Originally, the couple ran a yoga studio in Kathmandu’s tourist central: Thamel. However, growing demand urged them to open a larger, newer location in the Chandragiri Hills, which is now their sole focus.
The team at Mandala Yoga is much bigger, of course. Yoga teacher, Visnu, led our yoga and meditation practices.
Sound healing and reiki were applied by Shanta. Meanwhile, Susmi carried out the massages, and Ajay prepared the thrice-daily meals.
Programmes At Mandala Yoga Retreat in Kathmandu
I was looking specifically for a yoga retreat. However, Mandala – like other yoga retreats in Nepal – also offers yoga teacher training courses and other courses in sound healing, reiki and ayurveda.
Yoga Retreats
The yoga retreats range from three to 7 days, starting at $250 for a shared twin room or $400 for a private single room.
The three-day retreat features daily yoga alongside sound healing, meditation, a small hike, a massage and a steam room session.
I ended up choosing the four-day retreat because it offers all of the above, plus reiki therapy, for just $400 (for a private room).
The longer retreats add on additional therapies or a four-hour hike to the top of Chandragiri Hill (2500 metres above sea level), one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kathmandu.
📅 Check availability for the Mandala Yoga retreats.
Courses and Yoga Teacher Training
Private or shared rooms are available for yoga teacher training too, which amounts to 200 hours ($1,300), 300 hours ($1,800) or 500 hours ($1,900).
Alternatively, and this is a fun one, they run massage therapy courses (from $1,500), lasting 20 days.
Shorter reiki (2 or 5 days) and sound healing (3 or 7 days) courses are also available.
📅 Check availability for the Mandala Yoga courses.
What to Expect: My Experience on the 4-Day Sound Healing Retreat
The morning after I arrived in Kathmandu, I took a car to Mandala Yoga Retreat for a four-day sound healing and yoga retreat.
Handily, I was able to start my retreat on any day I liked, which suited my trip plans because just two days after finishing, I was due to start a 13-day trekking expedition on the Manaslu Circuit.
This was half the reason I wanted to do a yoga retreat so badly, so that I could prepare my muscles (and brain) for the trek.
I was also curious about yoga in Nepal. Having already done a yoga retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I was keen to see how philosophies and practices differ between countries.
Accommodation
Not keen on the idea of a twin shared room, I picked a private room. It had everything I needed: a comfortable bed, air-conditioning, a dressing table with a mirror, and an ensuite bathroom with a hot shower.
On top of that, outside, the shared balcony had outdoor seating where I could prop my feet up and read a book while looking down over the Kathmandu Valley.
This was also so convenient at sunrise, because all I had to do was open the door and walk outside to see the Himalayan mountains.
My room was located in the building at the back of the compound, so I also had views over the dining room, garden and yoga hall.
Food
Three meals are prepared from scratch by Chef Ajay. I have the misfortune of being both gluten- and soy-intolerant, but Mandala was able to prepare me gluten- and soy-free dishes for all meals. They even found gluten-free oats for breakfast.
Several guests were dairy intolerant or vegan, so they also modified meals for other dietary requirements as needed.
As I mentioned earlier, Mandala is a vegetarian retreat aligned with the traditional yoga philosophy of ahimsa (causing no harm).
This means that there’s no meat, fish or eggs (yes, egg counts as meat here). This did make life a little difficult for me, as I’m a very active person with some muscle mass, and due to my soy intolerance, I couldn’t get protein from tofu and soy products.
However, the retreat is a short walk from a hotel with a small restaurant, where they can prepare omelettes. If you really need it, it’s there.
I also recommend bringing your own snacks because the meals are fresh and light. Getting hungry between meals is common, especially after the energising morning yoga practice.
One of the dinners – quinoa topped with vegetables and tahini
Schedule
1. Yoga and Meditation Classes
Days at Mandala Yoga begin bright and early. The morning yoga practice runs from 7am to 9am at the roundhouse, where the hall is decked with prayer flags, yoga mats, blocks and cushions.
I do recommend getting up earlier – at 5.30 am if you can – to check the views at sunrise. The huge mountains aren’t visible during the day, but when conditions are clear at sunrise, you can see them in all their glory.
The yoga practice is led by Visnu and is a little different every day. One day, we had a more relaxed yin-style practice, but most days, the practice was energising and included a range of salutations and poses.
Towards the end of the sessions, we tended to lean into the more challenging poses such as headstands and crow pose variations.
However, if you’re a beginner like me, then there was always an easier modification on offer.
2. Sound Healing
I was so excited to try sound healing, and it didn’t disappoint.
Honestly, I couldn’t tell you how long the session lasted, because I fell into a dream-like state at some point during the treatment (I couldn’t start my car, I opened up the lid, and a mouse came running out…). However, I believe it was around one hour.
In the sound healing session, I lay down on the floor, surrounded by Tibetan singing bowls. Once I was covered with a blanket, I closed my eyes.
Shanta then used Tibetan singing bowls to create frequencies designed to calm the mind, release unprocessed emotions and break through energy blockages in the body/mind.
3. Reiki Healing
If you’re on a retreat longer than four days, you will also get to experience reiki healing. Reiki, like sound healing, is practised all across Nepal for energy healing.
However, in Reiki, the focus is on channelling life energy through the hands of the teacher and into the body of the person receiving the treatment.
In this session, I also lay down on the floor and closed my eyes. However, it was very important to stay awake for the session. This allowed me to stay tuned into how my body responds to different energy points.
After the session, I made sure to ask Shanta what he detected. He explained that I had a weak heart chakra. Therefore, practising being more open to people and experiences could help me move forward.
4. Ayurvedic Massage and Hiking
Other add-ons at Mandala Yoga Retreat, which quite possibly make it the best yoga retreat in Nepal, are that all retreats include at least one short hike and one ayurvedic massage.
On my retreat, I was even lucky enough to become the dummy for an ayurveda student who needed to practice her technique on a different body type.
On day two of my retreat, I took a short hike to a local Tibetan Buddhist temple and gumba. The walk began in the local village, which has views down to Kathmandu.
We then walked in the forest for about 15 minutes, slightly uphill. Through the treeline, snippets of the city were visible.
At the top of the hill, there was a local gumba where a monk was sat praying and a large temple was under construction. That was where we had the best views over Kathmandu.
In the late morning, the usual haze had already gathered over the city, cloaking the snow-capped mountains from view. However, I was still able to spot farms, suburbs, hills and neighbourhoods like Thamel.
Who I Would Recommend Mandala Yoga Retreat To
If you’re on holiday and want an introduction to yoga, sound healing and meditation with epic views to boot, this is a good pick for you. To really deep-dive into yoga philosophies and healing practices in Nepal, you’re better off doing a yoga teacher training or sound healing/reiki course.
The yoga retreats only lightly touch on philosophies and different styles of practices such as yoga nidra. Therefore, it would work well as a detox or a pre- or post-trek retreat. You can also use it as a short break to experience yoga in Nepal first-hand.
Alternatives to Mandala Yoga Retreat
- Nepal Yoga Home: A yoga school running for 15+ years in Kathmandu.
- 4.9/5 stars from 680+ Google Reviews.
- Runs yoga, meditation and ayurveda retreats alongside yoga teacher training courses.
- 📅 Check availability for the 3-day retreat.
- Himalayan Yoga Nepal:
- 4.9/5 stars from 120+ Google Reviews.
- A budget-friendly alternative covering a variety of yoga styles.
- 📅 Check availability on the Himalayan Yoga website.
- Osho Divine Zone:
- 4.9/5 stars from 140+ Google Reviews.
- Budget-friendly but takes place at a small venue.
- Deep dive into Osho meditation techniques.
- Check availability on the Osho Divine Zone website.
I hope you found this guide useful. If you have experiences to share about your time doing yoga in Kathmandu, please do leave a comment below to continue the conversation!